5 Apps First Responders Use to Save Lives

Many agencies are now saving lives with something you may take for granted: mobile apps. From crime scenes to five-alarm fires, this is how emergency responders use smartphone applications to share information, manage emergencies, and keep you safe.

WISER

WISER

Wireless Information System for Emergency Responders (WISER) helps users identify unknown chemicals, then provides information from the National Library of Medicine on how to respond to leaks or spills. The application walks users through a series of steps to identify a chemical, which is usually much quicker than flipping through an unwieldy manual at the scene of an emergency.

Another app called Radiation Emergency Medical Management (REMM) works similarly for radiological emergencies. Both are also available to the public.

FireStop

FireStop

Firefighters regularly visit large buildings such as schools, hospitals, and apartment buildings to map out the location of exits, stairwells, hazardous materials, and nearby fire hydrants. Unfortunately, those plans are not always accessible in an emergency, says T. J. Kennedy, acting general manager of the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet). They "end up on paper in a file cabinet in a fire marshal's office," Kennedy says, "and when they get called out for a call, they didn't have that data at their fingertips, it was still in the file cabinet."

An app called FireStop lets fire departments put these pre-incident plans online so that firefighters can access them from their smartphones. "Let's say they have lists of where all the hazardous materials in the hospital are—the oxygen and other tanks and other things like that that they need to be aware of. Now they have it all at their fingertips," Kennedy says.